Horseshoes is a game played between two people (or two teams of two people each) which employs four horseshoes and two stakes as targets for the horseshoes. During a conventional horseshoe match, players alternate taking turns tossing their respective horseshoes at the stakes. Modern games of horseshoes generally employ a more stylized U-shaped bar type horseshoe, about twice the size of an actual horseshoe. As the horseshoes are formed of steel, they have a relatively large mass which results in a significant force when tossed forty feet. Since the stakes are constantly hit by a flying horseshoe, it is important that the stakes be firmly planted into the ground.
In order to insure consistency and a regulation match, it is also important that the stakes be placed exactly 40 feet apart in laying out an accurate horseshoe court. In addition to correct positioning of the stakes employed as the horseshoe targets, a tedious process is generally followed to set up the boundaries and foul lines of a regulation horseshoe court.
In such a process, the court makers first measure off 40 feet in a straight line and then drive two 36 inch×1 inch smooth iron rods into the ground at the endpoints of the 40-foot measurement. The stakes are generally driven into the ground either perpendicular to the ground or at a slight angle to the ground, until just 14 inches of the stake remains above ground. In some cases the stakes may be angled slightly such that each stake leans toward the opposite stake. In any case, insuring an accurate 40 foot spacing between the stakes is critical.
Next, a shovel or other digging tool is employed to loosen the top 2 to 4 inches of soil around the stakes. This provides a landing zone for the thrown horseshoes. In a further step in laying out the court, at least one foul line must be positioned at either 27 or 37 ft from each stake. A 27 foot foul line is to be used by children up thru 18 yrs of age, women, and elderly men (70 yrs of age or more). The more widely employed 37 ft. foul line is to be used by all other adult men.
As can be seen, setting up the court with proper distance between the stakes and then designating proper foul lines at proper distances from each other is a tedious process at best. Further, keeping the entire court square when measuring over soil while trying to keep foul lines parallel and within regulation is a daunting process at best, requiring numerous diagonal measurements to insure the court is not actually a trapezoid.
A game of horseshoes is a popular form of entertainment for people at picnics, at the beach and at family outings. However, because of the tediousness of setting up the regulation court, many times the court never gets assembled. As a consequence, picnic participants never get to play the game.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a portable horseshoe court demarcation device that is easily deployed to designate a horseshoe court. Such a device should eliminate the tedious and frequently inaccurate measurements required to set the stakes at a proper distance. Such a device should also provide an easy means to mark the foul lines which are measured at a distance from an opposite stake. Finally such a device should remain substantially squared on deployment to insure the court so designated is substantially according to regulation.
Further, in the most preferred mode, such a device should also be compact during transport to allow it to be taken in the trunk of a car. Also, such a device should be easily deployed using a simple tool readily available to users such as a hammer to completely set up the court according to regulation dimensions.